1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recoil starter for starting an engine by pulling a starter rope wound on a rope reel to thereby rotate the rope reel, by transmitting the rotation of the rope reel to a cam by damper means, by rotating a drive pulley or flywheel magnet connected to the engine side, and by the rotation of the cam.
2. Background Art
There is already known a recoil starter, in which the rotation of the rope reel, as caused by pulling the starter rope, are transmitted to the cam so that the drive pulley on the engine side is rotated through a one-way rotation mechanism such as a centrifugal ratchet to be brought into and out of engagement with that cam. In this recoil starter, there is not only the structure in which the rope reel and the cam are integrated, but also the structure in which the rope reel and the cam are made separate and elastically connected through damper means so that the rotations of the rope reel are transmitted to the cam through a coil spring to thereby absorb the shock caused by the fluctuations of the load at the engine starting time and transmitted to user's the hands.
In the damper type recoil starter, there is also known the constitution in which a cylindrical reel spindle for supporting a rope reel and a cylindrical cam rotatably is so integrated inward on the axis of the output shaft of the engine from the inner face of a starter case formed to cover the side face having the engine output shaft arranged thereon to thereby support the rope reel and the cylindrical cam rotatably on the reel spindle. Moreover, the rope reel and the cylindrical cam are connected by inserting the extending cylindrical portion, as extended on one side of the cylindrical cam, rotatably in the recess formed on one side of the rope reel, and by winding the coil spring on the outer side of the extending cylindrical portion, and by bringing the coil spring into engagement at its one end with the rope reel and at its other end with the cylindrical cam.
Here, the leading end of the extending cylindrical portion of the cylindrical cam and the end portion of the coil spring are arranged such that they overlap the inner side and the outer side of the same seat face of the rope reel, respectively. When the extending cylindrical portion firmly contacts with the seat face of the rope reel, on the other hand, its friction causes a rotational resistance. Therefore, the cylindrical cam rather smoothly rotates, if a clearance is left between the leading end of the extending cylindrical portion and the seat face. When the rope reel is rotated, moreover, the coil spring is wound and fastened so that it is diametrically reduced to come closer to the extending cylindrical portion. When the coil spring is wound and fastened, therefore, the wire at the end portion of the coil spring may enter the clearance between the extending cylindrical portion and the seat face. This entry is easily repeated, once it occurs, to raise a problem that the coil spring is deformed to increase the stress but to deteriorate the durability.
Thus, according to JP-A-2006-132519, there is provided a structure, in which the leading end of an extending cylindrical portion (or a boss 41) of a cam member 15 is fitted in a receiving groove of a rope reel 14 by a faucet joint. According to this structure, the coil spring cannot enter, even if wound and fastened, the clearance between the extending cylindrical portion and the seat face of the end portion of the coil spring.